[Ash]

I came across this image and it just brought back memories:


Pentax MZ-D - Wikipedia

It has been 18 years since then, and 15 years before the first FF dSLR was announced by Pentax.
The digital FF project was scrapped in 2001, and Pentax held off on considering and developing a digital FF camera in 2012.
How far we have come from then with the K-1:



Happy shooting Full Framers.

[lytrytyr]

The Pentax MZ-D shared its sensor with the short-lived production Contax N Digital.
Pentax dodged a bullet back then by not following the upmarket Contax game plan.
As I Iook at the way Pentax is going right now,
I just hope that that lesson in survival remains well-learned.

[Dartmoor Dave]

I definitely prefer the clean, uncluttered styling of the original prototype. The K-1 looks like somebody threw a couple of handfuls of random buttons at it. Perhaps a touch of: "My camera is better than yours because it has more buttons than yours?"

[lytrytyr]

I definitely prefer the clean, uncluttered styling of the original prototype.

Styling was a thing back then.
Contax had theirs done by Porsche Design.
More recently, Pentax had their fling with Marc Newson,
and we know how that worked out.

[biz-engineer]

Remember the original Pentax FF prototype?

It's not yet a new rumor.

[clackers]

I definitely prefer the clean, uncluttered styling of the original prototype. The K-1 looks like somebody threw a couple of handfuls of random buttons at it. Perhaps a touch of: "My camera is better than yours because it has more buttons than yours?"

I love that there are real dials and buttons for just about every shoot setting, instead of having to navigate page after page of menus as in other brands.

The third dial is a stroke of genius - its context is decided by another dial's setting - I choose ISO to get all the exposure triangle elements having their own dedicated control.

The ergonomics, the balance, the strong yet WR articulated viewscreen are just right for me, Dave.

[Ash]

I'd agree that the versatility of the functions on the K-1 beats having a cleaner fascia, only to have to dive into menus a lot to do common tasks.

It's not yet a new rumor.

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Last edited by Ash; 12-30-2018 at 05:04 AM. Reason: grammar

[Dartmoor Dave]

I love that there are real dials and buttons for just about every shoot setting, instead of having to navigate page after page of menus as in other brands.

I have to confess that on all my DSLRs there are some buttons that I guess must do something but I don't know what it is. I'm not sure if that deserves a or a . Probably both.

I completely agree with you about that third dial though, and I'd set it to ISO too if I had one. The lack of a dedicated ISO control on my cameras is something I've really missed while shooting family snaps over Christmas in varying amounts of low light.

[Docrwm]

Wow, second almost identical thread in the past month on that old prototype.

[reh321]

I have to confess that on all my DSLRs there are some buttons that I guess must do something but I don't know what it is. I'm not sure if that deserves a or a . Probably both.

That is why they still ship manuals with cameras.
I read only part of the manual when I got my KP, but I read enough to understand how to use controls that were new to me {coming from a K-30}

[bertwert]

That is why they still ship manuals with cameras.
I read only part of the manual when I got my KP, but I read enough to understand how to use controls that were new to me {coming from a K-30}

Wait... We're meant to read the manuals?

[clackers]

Wait... We're meant to read the manuals?

As males, we of course must never read a manual or ask for directions. As someone pointed out, that's why Abraham led his people wandering around the desert for years before finding the Promised Land.

[normhead]

Wow, I love those film style dials. Can Pentax release an APS-c flagship with that body for their 100th anniversary? I'd be sleeping out side on the sidewalk waiting for the store to open.

[monochrome]

Wow, I love those film style dials. Can Pentax release an APS-c flagship with that body for their 100th anniversary? I'd be sleeping out side on the sidewalk waiting for the store to open.

The Site-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named would light up like a NORAD installation @ DEFCON 1 if that happened.

.:

[jimr-pdx]

Love the cute little screen, is that the same one the K-1 uses on top?